The Dewey Decimal System, invented by Library of Congress is a system of

librarian Melvil Dewey, is widely used in classification of books which is used in

small libraries. It is basically used to
classify only non-fiction books; however,
poetry and classic literature are included.
The Dewey System uses numbers from 000
to 999 to describe major categories.
Subdivisions are then made using a system
of decimals (hence the name Dewey
Decimal). Librarians have a complete
listing of the divisions of sub-classification,
but they usually rely upon the publisher or
distributor to assign the actual number. The
same number can be assigned to more than
one book; these books are sorted according
to the author's last name. Below the Dewey
number is placed the letter of the author's
last name and sometimes a "cutter" number
and the first letter of the title of the book.
Books are arranged on the shelves according
to the Dewey Decimal Classification (DDC 23)
which groups the fields of knowledge into 10
main classes, namely
Dewey Categories
000-099 General Works includes
encyclopaedias, handbooks, and almanacs
(The books in this category are frequently
found in the reference section.)
many large libraries. The call number
begins with a letter rather than a number.
There are twenty-one subject classes which
correspond to these letters. It is a system
intended for use by serious researchers.
Library of Congress Categories
A-General Works
B-Philosophy, Psychology, and Religion
C-History: auxiliary sciences
D-General and Old World History
E & F-American History
G-Geography, Anthropology, and
Recreation
H-Social Sciences
J-Political Science
K-Law
L-Education
M-Music

100-199 Philosophy/Psychology includes N-Fine Arts

ethics.
P-Language and Literature
200-299 Religion includes The
Bible, theology, and mythology Q-Science

300-399 Social Science includes sociology, R-Medicine

economics, government, education, law,
and folklore. S-Agriculture

400-499 Language includes languages, T-Technology

grammars, and dictionaries (Many of the
books in this category may be found in the U-Military Science
reference section of the library.) V-Naval Science

500-599 Science includes mathematics, Z-Bibliography and Library Science

chemistry, physics, and biology.
600-699 Useful Arts/Technology includes
farming, cooking, sewing, nursing,
engineering, radio, television, gardening,
industries, and inventions.
700-799 Fine Arts/Arts includes music,
painting, drawing, acting, photography,
games, sports, and amusements.
800-899 Literature
Other systems are used primarily in small
or privately owned libraries. The system
may be based solely upon the author's last
name or other criteria may be used. The
system is determined by the nature of the
library collection.
Use of any system can be accomplished by
merely consulting the card catalog or
computer file and seeking the book on the
shelf in its designated location.

810 American literature

811 poetry
812 drama
813 fiction
814 essays
815 speeches
816 letters
817 satire and humor
818 miscellany
819 Canadian-English literature
820 English literature
830 German literature
840 French literature
850 Italian literature
860 Spanish literature
870 Latin literature (classical)
880 Greek literature (classical)
890 other literatures

900-999 History includes travel,

geography, and biography (usually set
apart in a division labeled biography).

The Card Catalog

The Union Card Catalog is an alphabetical
index to the collections of the library. All
cards are interfiled following the word by
word alphabetical arrangement. These are
the following cards:
1. Author Card
2. Title Card
3. Subject Card